Yusuf Ogundare, the Lagos traditional ruler who was suspended for faking his own kidnap, has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.
Gatekeepers News reports that the deposed Baale of Shangisha in the Magodo area of Lagos was suspended on July 13, 2017, by the former governor, Akinwunmi Ambode.
He was convicted of a two-count bordering on breach of peace in the state and fake kidnapping.
On Tuesday, Justice Hakeem Oshodi who presided over an Ikeja High Court, sentenced Ogundare to 15 years in prison. His brother, Opeyemi Mohammed was also sentenced to the same prison term.
Ogundare’s wife, Abolanle was however set free after being absolved of the charges earlier levelled against her.
Gatekeepers News reports that in 2017, Ogundare was paraded by the former Lagos commissioner of police, Fatai Owoseni.
Owoseni had explained that: “On July 11 at about 10pm, a team of RRS patrol officers working around Alausa had sighted a vehicle drop a male adult in a suspicious manner close by Shoprite along the Secretariat road.
“The speed with which that car drove off attracted them to that spot and fortunately before they got to the spot, the car had taken off and a quick enquiry revealed that it was the Baale that was allegedly kidnapped.
“Immediately after while Ogundare was being debriefed, he sold a dummy that the kidnappers dropped him off but unknowingly to him, it had been found out that on the 5th of July, the day he was allegedly kidnapped in Lagos, investigation had revealed that he was driving around in Ibadan around Ashi; he went to Ilorin, he went to Iwo, he was just on a frolic.
“And unknowingly to him as well that because of information that had gotten to security services that his younger brother and his wife were being questioned and were actually in custody because of some discrepancies that were noticed in the interaction they had with security agencies, and in furtherance of the synergy existing between the Police and DSS, we jointly compared notes and our findings were such that the act of the chief was despicable and amounted to crying wolf where there is none.”
